Eye on the prize
All roads lead to, and sometimes return to, XCOM. In this case, it's more of a return, as a sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters was announced this week, replacing its demonic subtitle with an equally gloriously edgy "Deathwatch." This one's apparently a direct sequel to Daemonhunters, now putting you in charge of the Imperium's "most elite alien-hunters," once again taking the form of a turn-based tactical RPG.
As detailed in this handy little Steam blog post, developer Complex Games are picking up where they left off with the last entry and furthering it with "broad class identities, enhanced squad customisation and composition, and a wide variety of missions and units for deep tactical choices." There's apparently more than 10 different mission archetypes, with three playable forces to choose from, and a bunch of enemy factions to take on, including the likes of "brutal Orks" and the "insidious Genestealer Cults."
One of the more notable additions to this sequel is a new Skirmish Mode, for those of you more interested in just testing out your battling might. In this mode, you can build your team and test out varying squad compositions and tactics against "select factions." Sounds like a good opportunity for some practice if Warhammer is your thing but strategy isn't.
Former RPS top dog Katharine was quite a big fan of its predecessor, awarding it our coveted Bestest Bests badge and saying, "Complex Games haven't just put Firaxis' colossal strategy epic up on a fancy gothic pedestal here. Instead, they've added their own thrilling adornments to it, encouraging players to not only attack enemies head on with their tough as nails Knights, but also to get up close and personal with their misshapen quarry, thanks to its combat system that puts just as much weight on devastating melee attacks as it does on ranged potshots from afar."
You can wishlist Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Deathwatch on Steam, though there's no release date in sight just yet.